


The Edge

by galacticmistake



Series: How I Wanted Voltron to End [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Aftermath of Torture, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternative and Augmented Communication (AAC), Angst, Autism, Autistic Meltdown, Autsitic Pidge, Blood, Cross-Posted on Wattpad, Fainting, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Fever Dreams, Flu, Gen, Implied/Referenced Torture, Nightmares, Not Canon Compliant, Originally Posted Elsewhere, Past Torture, Pneumonia, Repressed Memories, Self-Harm, Shiro (Voltron) Has PTSD - Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Shiro Has Nightmares (Voltron), Space Dad Shiro (Voltron), Space Flu, Space pneumonia, Spoon Theory (in reference to chronic illness), Torture, Vomiting, past bullying, tw blood, tw self harm, vomit tw
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-09
Updated: 2020-04-03
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:27:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 16
Words: 4,602
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23085502
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/galacticmistake/pseuds/galacticmistake
Summary: Being tired was one thing, but this was wildly different. The expanses of space can't protect you from a common flu. (Canon divergent) (In between seasons 6 and 7) (Also on Wattpad)
Relationships: Hunk & Pidge | Katie Holt, Matt Holt/Shiro, Pidge | Katie Holt & Shiro, Pidge/Lance (Hinted)
Series: How I Wanted Voltron to End [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1659190
Comments: 21
Kudos: 23





	1. Exhaustion

**Author's Note:**

> Warning: Details of illness, vomit mention, sleep deprivation

Pidge was tired. Well, that was an understatement. 

Throughout these last 2 weeks, she was up day and night reprogramming and repairing the Castle of Lions. 

No sleep and a few cups of water and coffee throughout the day. That was all that her small frame had access to, power wise. Though, she persisted.

8 days ago, Pidge went with Coran onto a strange planet to test out the newer codes to see the improvements in the lives of the inhabitants. The next morning, she woke up freezing yet burning. And her stomach did backflips at the idea of anything but water and black coffee. It only took one bite of whatever they had cooked up to send her running to throw up. And that's exactly what she did. 

As a precaution, for the next week, she kept an empty waste basket by her in case her stomach decided to call any more shots. Her heavier blanket also served as a "best friend" of sorts. 

However, one night, it all got too much. 

It was almost 3am. There was the last bit of code. And there were multiple errors. She didn't know what it was, but she had tried and failed 6 times to fix it, but to no avail. 

"What was the point?" she thought to herself. So, she stood up and went to the bath room to grab a drink of water to clear her mind. 

But, judging by how long she was in there, it was a miracle that another insomiac was there to hear her cries.


	2. Melt

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Self harm, blood, hinted towards nightmares caused by Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

Takashi Shirogane was no stranger to a lack of sleep. Most of the time, he would be jostled awake from a nightmare from his time as a Galra prisoner. Tonight was no different in that respect.

However, as he walked by the bathroom, he could tell that something was off. The water had been running for 5 minutes straight, and there was an odd, incoherent mumbling. That alone set off alarm bells, and he rammed the door open. 

Inside, he found the team's smallest member standing at the sink. From the mirror, he could see that her hair was rustled, almost like her older brother when he was younger. Her light brown eyes were glassed over with dark purple bags underneath, which were accented by the paleness of her skin. She was shaking, almost shivering, like she was stuck in an iceberg. Her mumbling consisted of things like, "Can't do it. Not good enough. Can't fix it. Failure. Failure," which worried Shiro enough to step closer to her. 

When he did, he found the lines on the inside of her hands bleeding, and a sharp tool sliding close to the drain. He grabbed the object and placed it in a cabinet that he knew she couldn't reach. However, she was still moving as if she were still slicing into her hands. He knew that this might have been an autistic meltdown, but he had no experience with autism at the Garrison. However, he did have medical training. 

He tried to get her attention by lightly touching her shoulder. At that motion, she almost fell into the sink. Shiro grabbed her with the arm that he had, and attempted to gently lay her down. He then found some bandages to wrap around her small, torn up hands. As he did, he kept looking around to check if anyone was snooping around the castle so early in the morning. 

It didn't take long to wrap the bandaged, so afterwards, he delicately carried her to his room.


	3. Hyperdrive

Shiro sat at the end of his bed, staring sympathetically at the lump under his blankets. It was not even 5 minutes ago that he was bandaging the hands of his young friend who had been awake working on an intense project. Now, that friend was curled up underneath a giant blanket, more than likely exhausted.

 _Hold on._ Shiro said to himself. _That_ _wasn't_ _a meltdown. She blacked out. Not that I can identify a meltdown, any way._

"I walked across an empty land," he sang to himself. "I knew the pathway like the back of my hand. I felt the earth beneath my feet, sat by the river and it made me complete. Oh simple thing, where have you gone?"

"I'm getting tired and I need someone to rely on." a smaller voice chipped in.

Shiro knew that voice, so he moved the blanket for her to sit up easier. As she sat up, she took note of the tingling of her hands, almost like they fell asleep. She was shaking, but she moved her hands to where she could see them in the dark. She couldn't see them, but she was most likely confused.

"You blacked out." Shiro told her. "God, you must have been exhausted."

Pidge could tell it was his voice, but couldn't come up with the words to answer him. All she could feel was a heat coursing through her head and a strange aura from the room.

Knowing that he was probably expecting an answer, but she couldn't communicate it, she started flapping her left hand slowly.

And then came the most horrible sound imaginable. The sound of the Castle going into hyperdrive. This wouldn't bother her under normal circumstances, but given that her senses were far more sensitive at this time of night, it was almost excruciating to listen to.

She started crying as she curled up on the bed in a fetal position. But, as it grew louder with every passing second, the cries turned into high pitched screams. Shiro felt helpless, so he did the only thing he knew how.

He gently brushed the top of her shoulders with the fingertips of his Galra hand, as he knew that human touch would have been far too much.

Keith barged in yelling, "Shiro, what the hell is going on? I'm trying to sleep for once!"

Shiro quickly shushed him, "Dude! Keep your damn voice down! Not in the best situation to be yelling."

Lance and Hunk jolted by the door in curiosity, but Hunk didn't say anything for a fear of further escalating the situation.

"Why are y'all yelling?" Lance shouted.

Finally, the noise from hyperdrive stopped.

"Keith. Lance." Shiro directed. "Meet me by the right wall to my room. Hunk, stay with Pidge."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song that Shiro sings to Pidge is called "Somewhere Only We Know". The original is by Keane, but I had the Lily Allen version in mind while writing this.


	4. Comfort

Hunk knew a thing or two about comforting people. After all, everyone told him that he gave the best hugs and he tended to always lend an ear to someone in need. There was an energy about him that made him the very human embodiment of comfort among his friends and family. 

He sat by Pidge on the bed. Not too close, because he knew how she was about people touching her or her stuff. But also not too far. He could tell she was vulnerable and he wanted to be careful to not trigger another meltdown. 

"Hey, Pidge. May I play with your hair? I noticed that you do that when you're overwhelmed." he gently asked. 

She nodded under the covers, having adjusted so that her hair was very much easy to find even in the dark. Hunk took a wild lock in between his thumb and his index finger as his pinky finger circled her scalp. She deeply sighed and her shoulder rose up to her ear. 

Hunk had to fight off a bit of sleepiness, but this gave him a small idea. 

"Pidge. May I please cuddle you? Would that help you feel a bit better?"

Again, she nodded. She loved spending time with Hunk, especially if she happened to fall asleep around then, which apparently happened a lot. 

Hunk took the outer edge of the blanket and draped it over himself. After getting comfortable, Pidge rolled over so that she could face him easier. She smiled as she rubbed her head on his shirt, almost like a cat rubbing up on their owner. Hunk smiled at this, and within 25 minutes, the two were fast asleep. 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Shiro walked into his room after a conversation with Keith and Lance. Lowkey, he was surprised to find Hunk and Pidge snuggled up against each other, but he also wasn't. 

"Oh, well." he sighed to himself. "The couches on the lounge are comfier anyways."


	5. Surprise Wake-up Call

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Vomit, description of flu/pneumonia symptoms

What was that strange sound he was hearing? It could have been a dream. Or maybe not. But, whatever it was, it wasn't going to wake him up. 

Ok, he lied. 

Hunk shot awake a few minutes into the strange noise, but being that it was pretty dark, he couldn't clearly see who or what was making the sound. As he turned his head to his right, however, it only became more obvious. 

It was coughing. And it was Pidge coughing, nonetheless. She seemed much smaller than she actually was as the coughing caused her to shake, almost as if she was trembling out of fear. 

Hunk gently laid a hand on her back and began making a back and forth motion in an attempt to soothe her. Within a minute, the coughing fit ended, yet Pidge's breathing still seemed shaky and unsteady. 

"You ok?" Hunk asked. 

"Mhm. I'm ok." Pidge said, her voice seeming raspy. 

"Ya sure?" he pondered. "You're not sounding so well."

"Trust me. I'm fine." she replied, laying a tired head on his shoulder. 

"Woah. Your head is pretty warm. You're so not ok." he stated as a fact. 

"Shut up. I'm fine." she mumbled as she started to fall asleep, only to be jostled awake by the feeling of her stomach doing back handsprings. "Get me a bucket."

Hunk obliged, and not too long after, she threw up straight into said bucket. 

"How long has this been going on?" 

"A week, I guess? I've been tired a lot, and I've also been sweating buckets but also freezing my fingertips off. Not to mention, coughing a lot and not being able to keep anything down. But, in my defense, I haven't been hungry for the past week."

"Jesus Christ, Pidge. You're a mess. Somehow managing to catch the freaking flu in the middle of outer space."

And with that, they fell back asleep.


	6. Breakfast Fail

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Vomit

After hearing about the catastrophe that was 3am, Matt Holt had an idea. Well, 2 actually.

One was a hearty breakfast to restore the energy lost from a meltdown. And with sensory friendly foods. So, Pidge's breakfast after a situation like this would consist of pan-fried bacon, lightly toasted toast with creamy peanut butter spread on the top, and a sliced up banana. Simple. No utensils required. Easy clean up. 

Another idea was cereal, mainly something like Cheerios, and milk. But with a twist. The cereal and milk had to be in separate mugs. And the mugs had to have handles. Easy to hold on to. Fool proof. Also no utensils. 

Shiro and Matt settled for the first idea. 

○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○

It didn't take too long to prepare, and Hunk was willing to help with frying the bacon. 

So, Shiro stood outside with the full plate while Matt held a singular slice of bacon. 

"This is how you properly wake someone up. Stick the bacon up her nose. Works like a charm." he whispered. 

They both entered the room silently. Shiro had set the plate down in case of something dire, while also being careful not to wake her up prematurely. 

Matt dangled the bacon slice close to Pidge's nose, whispering, "Good morning, Pidgeon."

As she smelled the bacon, her eyes shot open. But, the results would be filled with regret. 

She bolted up and projectile vomited onto the sheets. The smell of the bacon and the bile mixed into a salty, acidic mess of a smell, further irritating her. Matt backed off, and Shiro had this look on his face that pleaded, "Don't cry, don't cry, it's ok, it's fine, I can wash this, you're fine, don't worry." 

Shiro walked closer to her, and quietly said, "I'll go ahead and wash this blanket. Matt and I will get you a new one." He bundled up the top blanket as best as he could so that he wouldn't make a bigger mess, and Matt trailed behind him as he carried it to the laundry room. 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Not too long later, Matt and Pidge talked science while Pidge dipped each individual Cheerio into a mug of cold milk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What would this fandom do without Matt and his tomfoolery?


	7. Anxiety on Both Ends

She wanted to be training with Keith, not curled up in a ball on the couch in the lounge. Not even really training. She just wanted to be productive. With the looming threat of a Galra attack, everyone wanted to be ready. Even Pidge. So, being in this place of vulnerability scared her quite a bit. 

She sat herself up a bit as Shiro walked in. Obviously, she was still a bit disheveled from being curled up in blankets, but other than that, she seemed ok. However, Shiro could see that something was off. 

"I wish I could be out there." Pidge grumbled, glaring in the direction of where Keith was training. 

"Well..."

"What? I'm fine after this morning. No need to worry." As she fully sat up, she had to look down and grasp at her head to compensate for her center of gravity changing. 

"That."

##################################

Lance placed a cautious ear against the wall. It had been about 3 minutes since Shiro slinked into the lounge, and from what he was hearing, things were getting pretty juicy. Keith walked past with his bayard in his hand, curious as to what Lance was doing. With a shift of the Cuban teenager's eyes to the wall, Keith joined. At first, silence. And then, it got interesting again.

"I'm the only one who can get into the Green Lion. So, if I'm out..."

"That's why we need you to rest. God only knows what you've put yourself through to get this castle up and running."

"I still haven't run full diagnostics on the lions and the damage they sustained from the last battle."

"You can do that when you're rested more."

"Who knows when we'll be attacked again?"

**************************************

At this point, she was shaking. It didn't help that her vision was blurred and tunneled to help cope with the feeling of lightheadedness, thus weakening her argument. She looked up to face the former black Paladin, ready to put the final nail in the coffin of her stance. She stood for a brief second.

"But what if Sendak-"

She couldn't finish before falling forward into the arm of the white haired man. Shiro had no idea what to do, despite his training. However, he knew who might. 

Matt. 

■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■

After running around the castle in a panic, he finally found who he was looking for. Matt was staring at some portion of Altean code before he was suddenly yanked away by the hood of his cloak.


	8. Comradery

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Language

Shiro and Matt leaned against the wall by Shiro's room. The two were awkwardly silent for a minute, before Shiro finally piped up. 

"Sorry for dragging you back there."

"Nah, you're cool. If it wasn't for you, I might have gotten lost in that code. There's something about technology from other species that's just so..."

"Engaging?"

"Yeah. That. Engaging."

Another brief bout of silence. After about 3 minutes, Matt took the initiative this time. 

"Can't remember the last time something like that happened."

"Something like what?"

"Oh wait. I remember. She was like, 10, or something around that. Hasn't happened again until now. So, yeah. I get your worry." Matt said, referring to the incident in the lounge. 

"Wait. That happened before?" 

"Mhm. You probably don't remember."

"Nah. Not much, anyways. I only remember you dragging me by my bad arm. Funny. That was when I had that arm."

"Haha. Those were the good old days."

"Mhm. Weird thing, though. Remember Kuron, my clone?"

"That was the name?"

"Yep. When the Galra cloned me, it completely cured my disease."

"It fucking what? How?"

"...They cut my arm off."

"Huh. Some cutting edge medical technology, huh."

"Yeah. Although, now I know not to trust purple cat people to take care of any medical stuff for me."

"I'll drink to that. Shit." 

They were interrupted by the groans of a young teenager who had just woken up. 

"Go in there, dude."


	9. Brother

Matt took a seat on the edge of the bed. Pidge noticed him at first, but quickly went back to flapping her left hand. 

"How ya feelin'?"

No answer.

"So..."

"I'm ok, if that's what you're asking," a robotic voice replied. 

Matt looked to find Pidge's phone in her right hand, which had a communication app. He quickly inferred that she didn't quite have the spoons to verbally communicate, so the app was close enough for the both of them at the moment. 

"Just to let you know, Lance has Killbot Phantasm I set up in the lounge."

"Cool beans." 

"You still say that?"

"Shut up."

It sounded less threatening when it was a robotic voice that was saying it. 

"I'll take you to the lounge, if you want. I know how much you like that game."

"You're not carrying me there. I can walk."

"Nope. I'm your brother, I get to carry you. Those are the rules."

"Says who?"

"Says me."


	10. Tending to the Plants

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Language, mentions of past bullying

Lance was on the couch in the lounge playing Killbot Phantasm I while Pidge lay adjacent to him. Lance was engrossed in the game, too much so to notice that Pidge had fallen asleep. 

It was peaceful for a bit, until a thought burst through Lance's mind.

"Hey, Pidge? I love ya."

"Shut up." Pidge grumbled in her sleep. "Don't lie to me. We both know you have a thing for the princess."

"She's pretty, yes."

"And smart. And strong. And confident."

"Hey, you're strong too. I mean, you managed to balance Hunk on your knee."

"Again. Shut up. Even if you did love me, I'm more of a sister to you than anything."

A blush creeped on to the Cuban teenager's face. 

"No. You're more than a friend to me, yes, but you're also more than a sister. I could see myself spending my life with you on Varadero Beach."

Pidge sat up. "Are you joshing me right now?"

"Nope." Lance replied. "Why would I?"

"I don't know. I just... I never thought that anyone would like me that much. At least, that's what everyone back at school said."

"Hm?"

"Can't wait to get back. See what else they pull."

"You could kick their asses, though. You're one tough cookie."

She stuck her tongue out in rebellion. 

"I'm not kidding. I love you."

"Are you just saying that to make me feel better?"

"Jesus, who said those kinds of things to you? I'm being honest."

Matt peered over from the other side of the wall. He gave off a pretty toothy grin before slinking back. 

And just at that moment, the attack signal went off. Pidge leaped to her feet before sprinting out to the hangar. 

Lance stared at the smaller girl in absolute wonder.


	11. Secretly Soft

As soon as the battle ended, Pidge landed her lion and bolted out towards her room, careful not to let anyone see her. She couldn't let anyone see her as weak. Not after a battle, that is. 

She finally made it to the darkened hallway and could see the door to her room. So close, yet she stopped in her tracks at the sound of footsteps, leaning against the wall and spreading out like a starfish to ensure that no one could see her. 

Those footsteps were Coran's. She could tell. Being stuck on a ship with 3 other people, 2 aliens, and one half-alien for a while gave her that skill. One that she didn't have back on Earth. 

Not too long after he passed by her, she fell. The thud made the ginger alien believe that he dropped something, but he brushed it off and walked away. 

Now without one option to get to her room, she began army crawling in an attempt to make it there. This attempt didn't last long, though, as she felt her head become light and slumped forward. She expected to fully hit the floor, but she passed out before that expectation was cut by another roaming paladin.

□■□■□■□■□■□■□■□■□■□■□■□■□■□■□

Keith had somehow gained access to Pidge's room, managing to get the door open. He was quite nervous as he lay her down on the bed. She looked smaller than normal, as she was curled onto her side. 

He gently placed the back of his hand against her head and quickly pulled it back afterwards, shocked at the amount of heat radiating from her. 

○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○

He returned after a bit with a bowl of cold water and a rag. Keith was a bit apprehensive about the awkwardness of this whole interaction, but went through with it anyway. He placed a damp, cold rag against her head, causing her to turn her face away from her arm. Finally, she thought, some cold. Some relief. One of her eyes fluttered open, barely making out the dark figure in front of her. 

"...keef?" she incoherently mumbled. 

He crouched down so that she could recognize him a bit more. 

"Yup," he said, "it's Keith. Listen, don't let anyone know that it was just me who helped you. Say it was a ghost or something. That'll be cooler. K?" 

"...k. Fine."

He stood up and turned away. As he left, she fell back asleep.


	12. Dinner Debacle

Keith thought that he would be able to silently slip back into the group of paladins. 

Oh boy, was he wrong. 

Most of the others stared at him for a bit in curiosity, but he brushed it off. 

Everyone was arguing over what to get for dinner while they stopped on a planet for supplies. 

Eventually, they all settled on a place that resembled Chinese food back on Earth.


	13. Space Family

Everyone sprawled out around the lounge, each with their own pillows and blankets. Some, like Pidge, were snuggled up against good friends, like Lance. Others took to sitting on a small square on the couch with a plate of food. Either way, everyone was in for a fun night. 

}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}

The movie ended after about 2 hours. By then, Pidge had fallen asleep against Lance's shoulder as he somehow read through all of the credits, making snarky comments along the way. 

Eventually, the credits finished rolling, and Lance carried Pidge in his arms to her own room.


	14. Sleepwalking Surprise

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Nightmares, mention of torture, references to past trauma

Shiro tossed and turned as his head ran wild with events from the past. He could never really sleep, but after being kidnapped and forced to fight for purple alien cats, his troubles only got worse. Sleep seemed impossible at this point. Futile, even. But he tried anyways.

{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{

_It was her blue face and long grey hair. It was always those_ _features_ _. After all, she was the one who carried out most of the torture. Sure, she couldn't obtain a place on the_ _Galra_ _throne, but she knew how to make life a living hell._

_Her glowing yellow eyes never failed to strike fear into his heart and the hearts of the other prisoners._

_Champion,_ _they_ _called him. Yet, he never felt so defeated._

♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤♤

He woke up in a cold sweat. It wasn't just one nightmare this time, but rather a jumble of unpleasant experiences that would lead to him losing his arm.

He looked around, trying to assure himself that he was no longer in the hands of intergalactic war criminals, but safe on the Castle. He was a paladin of Voltron. Everything would work out in its own time.

When he looked over to his left, he couldn't believe his eyes.

There was Pidge, on that side, with a hand on his left shoulder. She looked like she wasn't even awake, yet here she was. Out of the comfort of her own bed. Somehow, she had sleepwalked over to him. He knew that no one could figure it out.


	15. Green With Fear

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Language, repressed memories of trauma, fever induced nightmare

Pidge lay awake staring at the ceiling. It was fairly late at night, but her mind had been racing all day. Not to mention, whatever she was sick with was being a total jackass. However, she knew that she would have to sleep if she wanted to get over this. So, her eyes heavily shut.

♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧

_This wasn't the castle. There was a heavy emphasis on purple,_ _and_ _a darker, yet more_ _vibrant_ _shade, nonetheless. Red neon lights were also heavily prominent._

_Oh no. She was on the Galra ship._

_She tried to get up, but her attempt_ _failed_ _. She found herself chained to the ground by only one ankle,_ _and_ _her arms_ _were_ _cuffed_ _and_ _behind her back. She had no hope of escaping this one._

_A familiar face stood directly in front of the gate to her cell. Blue face, red marks, glowing yellow eyes. The druid had a plan for her. She didn't know what the plan was, but Pidge knew it wouldn't end well for her._

_The witch inched closer to the green paladin with the ever present menacing look in her eyes. Pidge wasn't scared though. If anything, she felt hurt long before the torture began._

_All of a sudden, Pidge felt a cold hand on her ankle. She knew where this was going. She feels as if something like_ _this_ _has happened before, yet she didn't know when._

_But it came flooding back. And the rest of the experience with_ _Haggar_ _was a blur._

**************************************

Hunk was just walking back to his room with a small snack packet when he heard wretched, broken sobs from another room. He decided that mini Oreos were less important than the well being of his friends.

He opened a nearby door, not knowing where it led, yet it answered a few of his questions.

There she lay, her face soaked in her own tears, clinging on to her hair like she was about to rip it out. He could see that her feet were twitching under the light blanket from the lounge.

He cautiously placed the back of his hand on her pale forehead. _Damn it,_ he thought, _way warmer than at dinner._

He scooped her up and whisked her away to a nearby bath room.

[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[

She shivered awake, realizing that she was not in her bed, but rather, she was sitting on the outer right corner of the sink. Her breaths were shallow and hitched.

Hunk had a wet wash cloth on her head as he held the cap of a medicine bottle open with some sort of alien fever reducer. There were exactly 3 pills in that cap, indicating that this had worsened overnight.

No wonder she couldn't sleep.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

After a solid hour of ranting to her best friend, Pidge was finally tired enough to hopefully stay asleep for a while. And Hunk had no issue carrying her back to her room. 


	16. Almost Home

Matt woke up feeling refreshed and relaxed. He was aware of whatever happened between him and his white haired colleague, but whatever it was, the feelings were mutual between each other. 

He inched towards the control panel where Allura and Shiro stood, not wanting to disturb them. What he found was fascinating. Allura had seemed to open something up, almost like they were about to teleport somewhere unknown. 

"Oh. Hey, Matt. Allura opened up a wormhole to get everyone back to Earth! Aren't you excited?" Shiro said in a flurry of emotions. 

Matt had no words. He wrapped his arms around Shiro's neck in a tight embrace, almost crying. 

Eventually, he let go, and the two stared at the wormhole. 

Wouldn't be long now before they were all home.


End file.
